FLASHBACK: Joel Crothers Passes Away 1985

Actor Joel Crothers, 44, a 20-year veteran of daytime soap operas who most recently had a featured role on SANTA BARBARA, has died of cancer.

A family friend said the actor had been hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with the disease since Oct. 22, having first learned he had lymphoma in August. Mr. Crothers died Wednesday.

He was born in Cincinnati, raised in New York and educated at Harvard University, began acting at age 9 in the CBS series LAMP UNTO MY FEET.

He appeared in several other TV shows and Broadway plays before launching a successful soap-opera career in the mid 1960s, said a friend, Paula Hartz.

Mr. Crothers recently played J. Stanfield Lee in the NBC daytime drama SANTA BARBARA, which debuted in July 1984. He previously acted in THE EDGE OF NIGHT, SOMERSET, THE SECRET STORM and DARK SHADOWS.

The actor also appeared in several episodes of prime-time shows such as ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS, THE DEFENDERS, HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, DEATH VALLEY DAYS, RESCUE 8, THE INVESTIGATORS, ZANE GREY THEATER, STUDIO ONE, PLAYHOUSE 90, DRAFT THEATER and GOODYEAR PLAYHOUSE.

He is survived by his parents, George and Ruth Crothers, and his brother, Michael. Private services were planned.

In telling his life story in the book, Soap Stars by Dianna Whitley and Ray Manzella, Mr. Crothers ended it with the wish:

When I'm ready to retire, my fantasy is that I will have a little bar on a romantic, tropical island. My guests will come from all over the world, I'll play piano and everyone will gather around to sing, and I'll get to know people from all over the world while I fix them drinks. If I could do that and still go to plays and movies about three times a week, then it would be perfect.